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The Octobot Is The First Soft Robot With No Electronics

September 8, 2016

Written byCuriosity Staff

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The definition of a robot is extending far beyond the image of a clunky, metal device with wheels and wires. Harvard University proved that in September 2016 with the groundbreaking creation they are calling the "octobot." The octobot is the world's first fully autonomous, entirely soft robot. Also special about this squishy robot? It was 3D-printed and includes no electronics.

Soft robotics may gain even more importance in the future, because it could help humans interact with machines. Until now, even soft robots had some sort of rigid circuit board, wires, or batteries attached. But the octobot doesn't rely on electronics to power it at all. Instead, it uses chemical reactions to move. Watch the octobot in action in the video below.